Are birds really reptiles?

[jnstuart]

I think most if not all herpetologists and ornithologists accept the current understanding of the interrelatedness of the organisms they study. There’s still debate as to how to deal with the modern groups taxonomically and I recall seeing various arrangements (e.g., elevating current reptile orders to classes). But it probably won’t change the focus of herp and bird researchers, regardless. I don’t see ornithologists suddenly including crocodilians among their study animals. And even if Reptilia is paraphyletic as currently used, it is a functional group for research purposes.